According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 42.9 square miles, of which, 41.6 square miles (107.7 km²) of it is land and 1.4 square miles (3.5 km²) of it (3.19%) is water. Talkeetna is known for its close proximity to salmon fishing and to Denali (also known as Mt. McKinley). Many of the historic buildings, which were built in the 1920's, still survive and are still in operation. Nagleys Store, Talkeetna Roadhouse and Fairview Inn are still active local businesses.

Talkeetna has a well developed airport and is home to several Air Taxi companies that offer flight seeing trips and support for mountain climbers. Many of the air taxi companies were started to ferry climbers from Talkeetna to Denali, as Talkeetna has the easiest access to the south side of the mountain where the main base camp is located. The median income for a household in the CDP was $38,289 and the median income for a family was $46,818. Males had a median income of $34,732 versus $26,250 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $23,695. About 7.2% of families and 10.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.8% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.